1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a control lever assembly for a vehicle or a machine tool, in particular for an industrial truck, to generate an electrical control signal, in which the actuation travel of the control lever is restricted by a stop point that is defined by a stop, and the control lever has means for the generation of a restoring force.
2. Description of the Currently Available Technology
Control levers, which are also frequently called "joysticks," are used to control certain functions of conventional vehicles or machine tools. On an industrial truck, for example, the various functions of a load holding device (e.g., elevation, lateral displacement, etc.) can frequently be controlled by such a control lever. However, on presently available control levers, the control lever cannot be moved beyond a predetermined stop point. When the control lever has reached the stop point, the control signal generated by the control lever cannot be further changed by increasing the actuation force on the control lever.
One limitation with presently available control levers is that in the event of a mechanical overload, e.g., of the type that would occur as a result of incorrect operation or the misuse of the control lever as a handhold, the control lever can be bent or broken off. Such an overload on the control lever can result in critical safety situations. For example, the control lever can generate control signals not intended by the driver or the damaged control lever can become stuck in a certain position.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a control lever in which damage to the control lever caused by an overload is reduced or eliminated and the risk of safety-critical situations is reduced.